As the pressure intensifies today to justify favouritism and reach a third successive Wimbledon semi-final, Andy Murray insists he is finally at peace on a tennis court.

So often the embodiment of rage and frustration - regularly at incidents beyond his control - the 24-year-old battled an inner demon that required him to overcome two opponents in the toughest matches.

But if Murray beat himself before, he insists self-defeatism is now a thing of the past.

Venting anger in the direction of loved ones is an affliction everyone suffers from at one time or another. Rarely is it useful and, in Murray's case, it often appeared not only a waste of valuable energy but a wasteful misdirection of aggression.

Monday's destruction of Frenchman Richard Gasquet provides irrefutable evidence that despite occupying centre stage in the goldfish bowl of hype at SW19, a relative tranquillity has replaced his fury in the early rounds here.

The intensity has remained but now the opponents get tougher, the stakes higher. Feliciano Lopez will provide the latest test of his mental state on Centre Court this afternoon but Murray believes there will be no histrionics should a struggle ensue.

"A lot of times when I shouted at the people in my box it was too much," he said.

"A lot of the times, people say you are screaming at your box but if you actually listen to a lot of things I am saying, I am angry at myself. I will always vent in their direction as I do when I get pumped up as well. But it was something I wanted to do to become a bit more independent and be a bit more responsible for the way I was acting and thinking on court.

"It is an individual sport at the end of the day and you are not getting help from the people in the box. I still look up there for some support and encouragement but I need to try to stay as calm as possible."

Murray's more relaxed demeanour is just one consequence of the introspective period that followed January's Australian Open final defeat by Novak Djokovic.

The Scot was crushed in straight sets as the Serbian demolished his opponent for the loss of only nine games, forcing 18 break points and leaving Murray devastated.

Murray failed to win another match on hard courts - including two first-round defeats at Masters series events - and dispensed with Alex Corretja, his part-time coach of three years.

Darren Cahill was brought in on a part-time basis and the upward curve that began with a surprising semi- final appearance at the French Open continued through to the Queen's Club title and now into the second week of Wimbledon.

"I struggled a bit to deal with losing the final in Australia," he said. "You put a lot of time into training for the Australian Open.

"There's a lot of time training and a lot of pain in the gym and on the running track in the build-up before it because you have five or six weeks to get ready.

"You get so close and then it doesn't happen for you I struggled a bit with that. I made some changes to my coaching as well which was something I had been thinking too.

"It wasn't so much my game but my mental state. Rather than doubting myself and thinking 'what do I need to do, do I need to change things or does my game need to get much better?', actually I was very close to being right at the very top.

"It was very small changes that I needed to make and I got back to the basics of my game which worked well.I sat down with the guys before the clay court stretch of the season and said, 'what things are we going to work on and what are our goals here?'

"I said, 'My No1 goal is to win tennis matches, I don't care how I play, if it's rubbish I am going to fight to the death'.

"I wasn't going to try to play perfect tennis and I just wanted to win. I started doing that and my game just got better."

Lopez is the latest to stand in Murray's way and the 29-year-old left-hander will be a more welcome sight than No8 seed Andy Roddick, who was ousted by the Spaniard in the third round.

Murray has won all four of their previous encounters and has a better record against lefties than it would appear at first glance - he has a 33-14 win/loss tally but 11 of those defeats have come against world No1 Rafael Nadal.

Lopez has never made it to the last four of a Grand Slam in 38 previous attempts while if Murray wins he will become the first British man in the open era to have achieved seven Grand Slam semi-final appearances.

The odds are stacked in Murray's favour but Lopez is tactically versatile, given his ability to play as a baseliner while also possessing volleying skills that enable him to rush opponents at the net if necessary.

"I have served well for most of the tournament which is important but I need to return better as it goes on," said Murray.

"I think it has been a good start. One set dropped and Ivan Ljubicic and Richard Gasquet are both tough players on grass. Lopez is another tough player but I just need to be aggressive."